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Fast-growing startups have a lot to think about, survival being top of the list. Yet in the long term, the way a startup manages people is absolutely crucial for success. As Peter Drucker said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. Creating a productive and healthy work environment where employees are empowered is the difference between an average and a great company.

From the traditional ‘Human Resources’ to the trendy ‘People Operations’, there have been many approaches to the art of managing people. Yet they all encompass the same basic elements, summarized as follows:

Recruitment - how do you find good people?

Retention - how do you keep good people?

Compliance - how do you set rules and ensure people follow them?

​Startups change quickly, and HR is often slow to adapt. A rule of thumb is that for every tripling in headcount, the internal systems of a company need to change. A one-person startup is very different from a three-person startup, and a ten-person startup is yet again different. The goal is to have a balance between structure and flexibility - too many documents, forms and policies and everyone gets bogged down in bureaucracy - too few, and nobody knows what is going on.

With all that said, here are some beginner steps to get you started on your HR journey:

Decide on a hiring process, and start compiling a list of good interview questions for your industry. Also consider investing time in writing clear job descriptions and employment contracts, because these often set the tone for the engagement between employee and company.

Draft an employee handbook with leave, compensation, travel, complaints and other policies. This will be a valuable resource , and is worth keeping up-to-date.

Create a culture code - even if it’s still aspirational, the act of defining what kind of work environment you want to create is immensely valuable.

We’ve also curated a list of resources that EME has used internally to learn about HR. Note that some of the policies and regulations mentioned in the resources may only apply to specific countries; it’s always worth studying employment law in the country you operate in.